Christian Biewer provides all information contained in this article. Thanks mate!!! Here?s his T16 weapon!!!

 

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The 4x4 system:

 

I say to the 4x4 system it is visco diffs all round. This may be technically not quite correct. But I am not a technics guru myself and I thought this is an easy way to make somebody understand. The centre diff is definitely visco with front and rear diffs being similar but not exactly the same systems (Torsen or something).

 

It may be worth to point out that the centre transfer box is regarded as the main weak point of the 405 T16. The drive is given into the transfer box via an outer and inner tube being stuck into each other. I am struggling a bit for the proper English words here. But it seems to be a similar connection like the windscreen wiper sits on a shaft with teeth. Anyway, apparently these teeth connecting the two tubes/shafts seem to grind off and you loose all drive and the repair is a nightmare. This is one of only two main and specific common problems known for the 405 T16.

 

However saying all this, I never ever had any problems with the transmission of my car, other than the diffs are whining since I?ve got the car (over 2 years now) and other T16 owners confirm having similar noises an this whining does appear to be nothing to worry about at all. In fact, my car still has its original transmission but if you hear other T16 owners that may be a novelty?

 

 

 

The overboost & common problem #2:

 

It appears the flooded engine in low revs is more a specific problem to my T16. Anyway, that seems to have largely disappeared and it only appeared with cold engine anyway.

 

However the boost collapse at 4000rpm, through the responses I have got from other T16 owners, it seems about 50% of the T16s existing have that problem. It only appears on and off, one day it is nothing short of amazing, the next day it sprints to just below 4000rpm and than doesn?t want to know any more. It seems nobody, not even Peugeot, knows the reason or any cure to that phenomenon. Disconnecting the battery until all memories (clock, radio etc.) are lost helps, but you have a very good chance that obviously ECU related problem is coming back.

 

 

The overboost function:

 

This is an amazing system and I think it is obvious what effect it is meant to have. Its function, e.g. flap inside the turbo, is hard to explain. I have got a workshop guide or something like that from Peugeot Deutschland which I send you as an attachment, than you will see how it is meant to work. The description is German but when you look at the drawing and you see the flap before the compression turbine, that should give you a good idea. This flap moves closer to the compression turbine in overboost, such letting more air in and directing it closer to the compression turbine.

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Mystery - production numbers:

 

Even (and not only here) Peugeot?s official figures are contradicting. Some sources say there were 200 odd built, others talk of 2500. The most commonly mentioned and I believe the closest to truth figure is 400 only T16s being built. And for such low production numbers there appear to be many different versions existing as well. Mine e.g. has no sunroof which - so I have been told several times - is unusual as the T16 came with sunroof standard. Apparently this was a small selection of 405 T16 Peugeot played and experimented with (with the WRCar in mind) and mine was one of them. It even has a blind tube and kit, designed to fit a dump valve! Mine as well has slightly upgraded boost figures as standard and a hydraulic suspension made with parts from the Citroen Xantia Activa. That suspension keeps the car and the weight balance always level. However that hydraulic suspension is found in ?sunroof versions? and 405 MI16x4 as well.

 

Some claims indicate out off 400 built, 50 turned into French police cars, camouflaged without badges and with cheap cloth seats rather than the standard Alcantara suede ones. Further most 405 T16 stayed close to their production factory in Sochaux on the French/Swiss border. It is said over 100 went to little Switzerland with a similar number staying in France and most of the French ones staying near Sochaux. Even in France there are many Peugeot dealers that have never seen a T16! In the UK I know of 3 only (4 if you count the French police car Eccosse has got!): 1 in private hands, 1 with a Peugeot dealer near Nottingham and 1 for the Coventry factory. The Coventry one is now in private hands and currently up for sale! For the UK, there has never been a right hand drive 405 T16. The only figures that could have been proved are at Peugeot Deutschland. In Germany there were 68 T16 sold, 6 of which were the special non sunroof ones like mine!

 

Right! You see where this is leading? 400 built minus 50 police cars, the non sunroof limited edition of the limited edition, some with hydraulic suspension, some without, with or without catalyst, many crashed, many tuned, chip tuning is appearently really easy and may even be advisable with the problems of the standard ECU, the VAT25 turbo can very easily be replaced by a VAT28....

 

You are not very likely to find any 2 the same, are you?!!!!

 

 

 

Mystery - performance figures:

 

This is typical Peugeot! The official Peugeot 405 T16 catalogue reads like this:

 

?performance data at 1.0bar turbo boost:

power:??????? 196BHP

v-max:?????? 235km/h

0-100km/h:????????? 7.1sec?

 

This as well is the figures the insurances and registration offices/MOT accepted, at least in Germany. However a few lines further on in the same catalogue say:

 

?The turbo has an overboost function. That overboost affects the engine as follows:

boost:?????????????????? 1.0bar??????? >1.3bar

power:??????? 196BHP???? >220BHP

torque:??????? 288NM?????? >318NM?

 

What is missing is how this affects acceleration and V-max! The context carries on:

 

?The overboost is activated when the accelerator is on flat-out position and stays activated for 45sec or until the accelerator leaves flat-out position. Once the 45sec are up the overboost can be activated for 45sec again any time through the same procedure.?

 

In other words (apart from 45sec being a fair bit of time) you can have your 1.3bar boost any time and thus the acceleration and V-max figures given above are a whole lot of bollocks!

 

Indeed, all 405 T16 owners seem to agree that the 0-100km/h (0-62miles) figure is around 6secs in standard form while V-max stays a mystery as the claimed 235km/h are nowhere near the rev limiter and when you try, you are running out of numbers on the speedo!

 

 

Other interesting notes:

 

-         You might find it a bit confusing that in the other letter I state on one side that the T16 is typically Peugeot everything accurate and other 4x4 turbo cars are bulky and heavy in comparison, on the other side the T16 is heavy going in town.... Well, the heavy going is a result of the standard heavy duty clutch and stiff gearbox thanks to 4x4 combined with a huge turbo lag. Other than that it is a typical Peugeot and it is well worth pointing out that the overall weight of the 405 T16 is given as 1340kg, which is surprisingly light for a 4x4 car that size.

 

-         I mentioned above that chip tuning seems to be common practice with the T16. Indeed many people are surprised what boost rates the T16 engine can take without any problems or any major changes. As examples one guy in Denmark got 265BHP on the roller purely through chip tuning; somebody in Holland runs a T16 engine in a 205 Cabrio, chip tuning and using the VAT28 turbo result in reliable 320BHP; meanwhile the best example may be Eccosse?s 306 Sedan, its T16 engine tuned to 350BHP, see their web site. At the same time you find many T16s having covered in the area of 150000km and have never experienced engine problems. As you know, Escort Cosworths would be on their 3rd or 4th head gasket by than if lucky! It really seems the tuning limit for the 405 T16 is how much the transmission can cope with, not the engine!

 

-         Meanwhile, saying the T16 was such a rare car while guys seem to find T16 engines for 205s and the same engine is a base for the WRC engine, it really seems the 405 T16 was never meant to be anything else than a homologation special. Indeed, while the car is so rare, the engines are still in production nowadays! Some are delivered to people like Welter Racing for their Le Mans team and I have read on some web site that the 2000 Beach Buggy World Champion used a T16 engine, etc.. But indeed you can buy T16 engines brand new, used or overhauled at Peugeot! I even have got parts numbers. However, a price of DM5400 (= 1800 UK Pounds) for the overhauled engine may even sound cheap but that is without turbo, intercooler, ECU etc.. The ECU alone is DM2250 (= 750 UK Pounds) but if somebody is prepared to spend $$$$ for a Cosworth conversion for his Pug, he may as well go this route? For a start, the Cosworth engine is a longitudinal engine while about any Peugeot gearbox, even the GTI6 one, fits the T16 engine.

 

 

Right, enough for now. I have probably given you far more information and details than you wanted and possibly could fit on your web site. Don?t worry. I am a Pug fan since a long time and I love the 405 T16 since its launch in ?93. I own mine now since over 2 years and I investigated a bit into this model. So I might as well tell you everything I know and you pick what you want?!

 

Cheers, Chris

 

 

P.S. as attachments I send you:

 

-         The letter to that guy in Singapore, well the 1st half of it is about T16s, sorry, I couldn?t be arsed now to edit that letter all over again, I hope you don?t mind.

-         The drawing explaining the overboost

-         The only T16 test report I ever found in any magazine. I don?t like the style of the writer but it should be quite useful. I hope you can enlarge this file?

-         Pictures of my 405 T16, note that car is an all standard T16 except the custom made exhaust????????

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